Ion exchange vessel having hollow cylindrical ring construction for the transfer of a radioactive substance

ABSTRACT

A vessel for the purpose of transferring a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state, said vessel being characterized in that it comprises on the one hand a column in the form of a cylindrical ring which is intended to contain an ion exchanger in the granular state and is surrounded by a shield having good thermal conductivity and on the other hand at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution which penetrates into said column and at least one pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid.

United States Patent Inventors Rene Antony Pierlas;

Jean Marie Courouble, both of! Orsay, France Appl. No. 801,093

Filed Feb. 20, 1969 Patented Dec. 7, 1971 Assignee Commissariat A lLEnergie Atomique Paris, France Priority Feb. 28, 1968 France 141696 TON EXCHANGE VESSEL HAVING HOLLOW CYlLllNDRlCAL RING CONSTRUCTION FOR THE TRANSFER OF A RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE 5 (Illnims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 250/109 R, 250/44 R, 250/47 R, 250/106 T lnt. Cll G2 5/02, G2 lh 5/00 Field all Search 250/108,

I06 T, 106 S, 84, 85,44, 47; 252/30l.l

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,968,734 1/1961 Yeomans... .t 250/106 (5) 2,992,980 7/1961 Suttle..lr. .i 250/106 (SX) 3,156,532 11/1964 Doeringetal.... 250/l()6(T UX) 3,369,121 2/l968 Bruno et al, .t 250/106 (T) Primary Examiner-James W. Lawrence Assistant E.ran1inerMorton J Frome Attorney-Craig, Antonelli, Stewart & Hill ABSTRACT: A vessel for the purpose of transferring a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state, said vessel being characterized in that it comprises on the one hand a column in the form of a cylindrical ring which is intended to contain an ion exchanger in the granular state and is surrounded by a shield having good ther mal conductivity and on the other hand at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution which penetrates into said column and at least one pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid.

PATENTED DH; 7 I971 FIG. I

.JEnM mum: sandman" BY y, 4.5.114, M94222 ATTORNEYS ION EXCHANGE VESSEL HAVING HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL RING CONSTRUCTION FOR THE TRANSFER OF A RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE The present invention relates to a vessel for the transfer of a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state.

The ion exchanger vessel according to the invention in which is circulated a solution containing a radioactive substance to be adsorbed on the ion exchanger makes it possible to satisfy the different practical requirements which are outlined hereinafter, whereas this was not the case with columns of known types which were employed for the same purpose and which usually had the shape of a right cylinder. These requirements are as follows:

l. the vessel must permit connection to one or a number of stationary installations in order that the radioactive solution can circulate therein under the most favorable conditions of safety;

2. the vessel must ensure uniform distribution of said solution throughout the mass of the ion exchanger;

3. the vessel must permit heating of the ion exchanger and of said solution while this latter is being circulated;

4. the vessel must serve to transfer the radioactive substance and comply with standards of transportation of radioactive substances.

Specifically, the present invention relates to a vessel for transferring a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state, said vessel being essentially characterized in that it comprises on the one hand a column in the form of a hollow cylindrical ring which is intended to contain an ion exchanger in the granular state and is surrounded by a shield having good thermal conductivity, and on the other hand at least one pipe for the supply of radioac tive solution which penetrates into said column and at least one pipe for the discharge ofirradiated liquid.

The circulated ring which constitutes the column can be formed by the juxtaposed assembly of two cylindrical halfrings, at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution being intended to penetrate into each half-ring.

Said discharge pipe emerges from the column which is designed in the form of a cylindrical ring and provision is made for a cup which is formed in said shield and in which the supply and discharge pipes have their openings, and for a device which serves to heat the radioactive solution which circulates within said column.

In an advantageous form of construction, said heating device is a coil housed within the inner cylinder of the cylindrical ring which forms the column.

In another form of construction, a coil housed within the inner cylinder of the cylindrical ring which forms the column is employed for circulating a liquid which is irradiated by the radioactive element which is adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger and the downstream end of said coil constitutes said pipe for the discharge ofirradiated liquid.

Further properties and advantages of the present invention will be brought out by the following description of one form of construction of the vessel in accordance with the invention, said description being given solely by way of explanation and not in any sense by way oflimitation.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

H6. 1 is an axial sectional view of said vessel; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vessel of FIG. 1, this view being taken at right angles of the longitudinal axis of the vessel.

In these figures, the vessel in accordance with the invention is seen to comprise a column 1 formed by the juxtaposed assembly of two cylindrical half-rings 1a, 1b, said column being surrounded by a shield 2 which possesses good heat conduc' tivity.

There are adapted to penetrate into each of said half-rings a pipe 3a and a pipe 3b respectively which serve to supply a radioactive solution and a pipe 4a and 4b respectively which serve to discharge said solution,

A cup Sis formed in the shielding 2 and the pipes 3a, 3b, 4a, 412 have their openings in the base of said cup.

A coil 6 housed within the cylindrical cavity 7 serves to heat the radioactive solution which circulates within each of the two half-rings la, lb.

Finally. the reference numerals 8 and 9 designate respectively a thermal protection casing and thermocouples.

The vessel in accordance with the invention is intended to transfer a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state which is placed within the two cylindrical half-rings la and lb. The ion exchanger consists. for example, of resin beads and the radioactive substance to be adsorbed on said ion exchanger is, for example, caesium contained in a concentrated solution of fission products.

The device in accordance with the invention operates according to one of the two modes described hereinafter:

a. First mode of operation: the radioactive solution (elution liquid) passes through the supply pipes 3a and 3b into the two cylindrical half-rings la, lb (as indicated by the arrows Fl) and impregnates the ion exchanger (not shown in the drawings); the radioactive element which is thus adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger is recovered by elution (discharge pipes 4a, 4b, arrows F2) for the purpose of constituting sources outside the vessel. The cup 5 serves to connect the vessel to a stationary installation, thereby permitting the radioactive solution to circulate under the best conditions of safety.

The shape and the dimensions of the two half-rings Ia, lb are chosen so that, while the solution is being circulated, the pressure drop is low (for example of the order of 1 meter of water column in respect of flow rates of a few tens of cubic decimeters of solution per hour) and so that the solution should be uniformly distributed throughout the mass of ion exchanger grains.

The coil 6 serves to heat the ion exchanger and the radioactive solution while this latter is being circulated within the cylindrical half-rings la, lb, the temperature attained being within the range, for example, of 60 C. to C.

b. Second mode of operation: the radioactive element which is adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger constitutes an annular radiation source disposed around the cavity 7 which serves as an irradiation chamber and the coil 6 is employed for the circulation ofa liquid which is irradiated by the radioactive element adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger. The downstream end of said coil constitutes the pipe through which the irradiated liquid is discharged.

The shielding 2 is in direct contact with the half-rings la, lb, thereby permitting efficient removal of heat produced within the ion exchanger by the radioactive solution. in this manner, the temperature attained within the ion exchanger during periods of storage is maintained at an acceptable value. The thermocouples 9 serve to determine at each moment the temperature which exists within the interior of each cylindrical half-ring la, lb.

What we claim is:

l. A vessel for the purpose oftransferring a radioactive sub stance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state, said vessel being characterized in that it comprises a column in the form of a hollow cylindrical ring formed by walls defining an enclosed annular hollow for holding an ion exchanger in the granular state surrounding a central space, said ring being surrounded by a shield having good thermal conductivity, and at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution which penetrates into said central space and at least one pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid.

2. A vessel in accordance with Claim 1, characterized in that said hollow cylindrical ring constituting the column is formed by the juxtaposed assembly of two hollow cylindrical half-rings forming separate compartments in said column, at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution being intended to penetrate into each half ring.

3. A vessel in accordance with Claim ll, characterized in that said discharge pipe emerges from the column which is 5. A vessel in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that a coil housed within the inner cylinder of the hollow cylindrical ring which forms the column is employed for circulating a liquid which is irradiated by the radioactive element which is adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger and the downstream end of said coil constitutes said pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid. 

1. A vessel for the purpose of transferring a radioactive substance which is adsorbed on an ion exchanger in the granular state, said vessel being characterized in that it comprises a column in the form of a hollow cylindrical ring formed by walls defining an enclosed annular hollow space for holding an ion exchanger in the granular state surrounding a central space, said ring being surrounded by a shield having good thermal conductivity, and at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution which penetrates into said central space and at least one pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid.
 2. A vessel in accordance with Claim 1, characterized in that said hollow cylindrical ring constituting the column is formed by the juxtaposed assembly of two hollow cylindrical half-rings forming separate compartments in said column, at least one pipe for the supply of radioactive solution being intended to penetrate into each half-ring.
 3. A vessel in accordance with Claim 1, characterized in that said discharge pipe emerges from the column which is designed in the form of a hollow cylindrical ring and a cup is formed in said shield, in which cup the supply and discharge pipes have their openings, and wherein a device is provided adjacent said column which serves to heat the radioactive solution which circulates within said column.
 4. A vessel in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that said heating device is a coil housed within the inner cylinder of the hollow cylindrical ring which forms the column.
 5. A vessel in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that a coil housed within the inner cylinder of the hollow cylindrical ring which forms the column is employed for circulating a liquid which is irradiated by the radioactive element which is adsorbed on the granular ion exchanger and the downstream end of said coil constitutes said pipe for the discharge of irradiated liquid. 